Q: Plug in a new mac mini into 2009 imac 24?
My 24" early 2009 iMac is really beginning to show it's age. Currently it's on OSX 10.11.6 which is the latest at this time. Only hardware upgrade I have done to it is up the Ram from 4gb to 8gb. It got a new HD due to a failure in it's last month of AppleCare Plus (November 2012). However, it's getting really slow albeit I have 4 external HD's plugged into it and an external USB Hub as I am constantly plugging in additional assorted devices. There is nothing wrong with the 24" display.
In the past week or so I've returned to my mac while it was in 'sleep mode' and not been able to wake it. After the first time this happened I copied all the files I cared about to one of my external HD's in case of a total failure. I had a second time where I could not wake it and both times I clicked on the wired mouse, touched multiple keys on the keyboard, and even tried pressing the power button. Nothing worked. Several minutes later it sprung to life. I am confused as to what is happening. Don't think it's the internal HD as when the original one was dying, it was making all these clicking noises.
So finally, to my question: Would I be able to replace this iMac with a mac mini utilizing my beautiful 24" display? Or even better, run both? Could both be working simultaneously hooked up together somehow? (I'm guessing no to the last question). I'm just gathering info on upgrading my system prior to it dying at an unknown possibly soon time. Also the price difference of buying a mac mini compared to a new 21" or 27" iMac is a lot.
Hoping I can get some good info to help me make these decisions. Thanks in advance!
OS X El Capitan (10.11.6), 3.06 GHz C2D 8gb Ram NVidiaGT130
Posted on Aug 29, 2016 5:55 AM
Your iMac model is too old to support Target Display Mode. See the Apple article on this.
You can replace your iMac with a Mac mini, but you you will need a separate standalone display. You cannot use the 24" iMac as a display for your Mac mini.
Posted on Aug 29, 2016 3:50 PM